UK's NICE recommends GSK's Arzerra for untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia

The UK’s health costs watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has issued new preliminary draft guidance for consultation proposing to recommend UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline's (LSE: GSK) ofatumumab with chlorambucil for untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

This is the most common form of leukemia in the UK and around 2,700 people are diagnosed with it each year. Half of the people who need treatment for the condition are not able to use the fludarabine combination therapy that is currently the standard first-line treatment. Bendamustine, however, is a NICE-recommended alternative treatment already available.

Ofatumumab works by attaching itself to the surface of B cells (a type of white blood cell that is overproduced in CLL). This activates the immune system, enabling the B cells to be killed. In this preliminary guidance, NICE has recommended ofatumumab taken with chlorambucil for untreated CLL in people who are ineligible for treatment with fludarabine combination therapy and for whom bendamustine is unsuitable.